Welding flux



surfaces Patented June 8, 1943 2,321,309 WELDING FLUX Mike Miller, New Kensington,

Aluminum Company of America, a corporation of Pennsylvania Pa;, assignor to Pittsburgh,

No Drawing. Application December 31, 1941, Serial No. 425,117'

. 6 Claims. (01. 148-26)- This invention relates to th welding of aluminum, and it is particularly concerned with the provision of a superior flux for use in this operation. By the term aluminum, I mean to include both commercially pure aluminum as well as the alloys wherein this metal constitutes at least 50 per cent by weight of the entire composition.

In order to satisfactorily join aluminum members by the fusion of metal therebetween, it has been found necessary to first remove the adherent oxide film which naturally forms on the surfaces of such members when they are exposed to the atmosphere. A flux containing alkali halides, es-

pecially one or more fluorides, is usually employed to accomplish this purpose. Moreover, the flux, after removing the oxide film, will adhere to the cleansed surface and so protect it against oxidation during the remainder of the joining operation.

A type of flux which has found extensive application in the welding of aluminum is one at least 50 per cent of which consists of the chlorides of the alkali metals, particularly those of sodium, potassium and lithium. Generally two or more of these chlorides of this type are herein referred to as alkali metal chloride base" fluxes. properties of the flux are in large part determined by the base portion, these alkali metal chlorides have practically no oxide removing properties, and. consequently, it is necessary to add other substances to the flux which will remove the oxide from aluminum surfaces. Since the most desirable'fluxis' one that willeffect a substan- While the physical.

are employed. Fluxes tially complete removal of the oxide coating in a relatively short period of time, it.is important that an efiicient oxide removal agent be introduced into the flux.

The materials most frequently employed as oxide removing agents have been fluorides and various fluorine-containing salts. While these substances, in th main, have accomplished the removal of the oxide coating from aluminum in an altogether satisfactory manner, their usage in the flux is often disadvantageous in other be desirable to eliminate them altogether. For example, it has been observed that fluorine-containing fluxes. frequently discolor aluminum surfaces with which they come in contact, thereby respects, and in some instances it would detracting from the appearance of the article. 1

Such fluxes are also toxic, and special precautions must be observed to remove all flux residues where food containers are being welded.

Again, the cost of most fluorine-containing compounds may be relatively high and a cheaper material would therefore be desirable. However, it has not been feasible to entirely omit the fluorine-containing material in the flux since no completely suitable substitute of equivalent action has been known. Alkali metal acid sulfates have occasionally been employed in place supplementary to them, satisfactory results.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an alkali metal chloride base flux having the ability to rapidly remove oxide from aluminum surfaces. A more particular object is to but generally with unsupply an aluminum welding'flux having high oxide removing properties, yet to which, no fluorine-containing compound need be added. A further object is to provide a practical low cost aluminum weldingflux.

My invention is predicated upon the discovery that an alkali boryl sulfate may be successfully employed in a. fluorine-free alkalimetal chloride base type of flux to remove the oxide from aluminum surfaces. The term alkali boryl sulfate as herein employed refers to a compound of the character described in British Patent No. 19,637, 1891, which has the formula M(BO)SO4 where M represents an alkali metal,

characterized from a chemical standpoint by the presence of the B0 group from whence the term boryl is derived. The preferred compounds of this group are those of sodium and potassium, but compounds of lithium, rubidium, and caesium may also be employed. These boryl compounds are non-toxic and donot in any way affect the appearance of the aluminum surfaces during the welding operation. compounds. The cost of alkali boryl sulfate is very small, being considerably less than that of lithium fluoride, for example. Because of these and other desirable properties, the alkali boryl compounds are well adapted for use in aluminum welding fluxes.

The alkali metal chloride base to which the alkali boryl sulfate is added preferably cpntains chlorides selected from the group consisting of from 5 to per cent sodium chloride, 5 to 60 per cent potassium chloride, and 5 to'80 per cent lithium chloride.

per cent fluorine-free alkali chloride base aluminum weldi g flux, the action of the flux in removing the This compound is They are relatively stable The use of at least two chlorides of this group is preferred, and in no case oxide from the surface of the aluminum article becomes thorough and rapid with the result that a smooth, uniform, sound weld bead is formed. Fluxes that contain no oxide-removing agent or an agent having a sluggish action either do not clean the metal or do it so imperfectly that there is a very poor adherence between the flller and parent metal, and consequently a sound joint is not made. Furthermore, where fluxes are used which are inefficient in removing the oxide film, it is necessary to "puddle the molten weld metal in an effort to loosen the oxide film mechanically. Such manipulation produces a rough and often unsound welded joint. Conversely, it may be said that where a rough poorly adhering weld head is formed, the flux employed did not thoroughly clean the metal surface as fast as the molten filler metal was deposited. By virtue of the fact that the fluorine-free alkali chloride base fluxes containing an alkali metal boryl sulfate will produce a smooth weld bead under ordinary welding conditions, it may be characterized as a flux that thoroughly and rapidly cleans the aluminum surface. This welding flux is also free from the disadvantages sometimes associated with the em ployrnent of a flux containing one or more compounds of fluorine. The expression fluorinefree"'as herein employed means that fluorine is excluded from the flux except as it occurs as an impurity.

The amount of boryl compound required to obtain the desired oxide-removing effect in an alkali metal. chloride base flux ranges from about 0.5 to 5 per cent. Less than 0.5 per cent has little if any'beneflcial effect upon the flux while more than 5 per cent does not increase the oxideremoving power of the flux.

Instead of adding the boryl compound to the flux, it may be convenient to add boric acid and alkali sulfates to the flux in substantially the proportions n'ecessary to form the boryl compound. Fluxes containing these substances in the proper proportions act in the same manner as those to which an alkali boryl compound is added. Accordingly, it is considered that the aforesaid substances interact to form an alkali boryl compound, and that such compound is present in the flu'x at the welding temperature. For example, both normal and acid sodium sulfate react with boric acid in stoichiometrical proportions at temperaturesof about 500 C., which is below the welding temperature range, to produce the boryl compound in accordance with the following chemical equations:

The parts by weight of these substances which will react with each other to form 0.5 to 5 per cent of the boryl compound can be computed in the usual fashion from the foregoing equations. For example, where the normal sodium sulfate is used, 0.49 to 4.9 per cent of this salt should be present along with 0.42 to 4.2? per cent of boric acid. If the acid sulfate is employed, the ranges are 0.41 to 4.1 per cent of the sulfateand 0.21 to 2.1 per. cent of boric acid. If both normal and acid sulfates are employed, the proportions of each should be such that all of the boric acid reacts with the sulfates. Whatever alkali sulfates are employed, it is generally desirable to add both boric acid and the normal and/or acid alkali sulfate in stoichiometrical proportions to produce the desired jmount of theboryl compound; slight deviations from such proportions related substances,

are permissible provided they do not become so large as to result in any appreciable modification in the properties of the flux. Such deviations are considered to be comprehended in the term "substantially stoichiometric proportions as em-. ployed in the claims. Both normal and acid sulfates of all the alkali metals are considered as constituting a group of chemically and physically and they will therefore be referred to herein as the alkali sulfate group.

As an illustration of a particular flux where normal sodium or acid sulfate is to be used in making 75 grams of flux containing 2 per cent by weight, or 1.5 grams, of sodium boryl sulfate, it would be necessary to use 1.46 grams of normal sodium sulfate together with 1.26 grams of boric acid to produce this quantity of boryl compound. If acid sodium sulfate were to be employed, it would be necessary to employ 1.23 grams thereof together with 0.62 gram of boric acid to produce this same quantity, 1.5 grams, of sodium boryl sulfate.

To illustrate the manner in which the improved flux described herein finds application, I will describe a joining operation wherein two pieces of commercially pure aluminum sheet /8 in thickness were welded together by the torch method. The sheets were placed with the edge of one sheet against the edge of the other sheet, and a waterslurry of a flux having the composition 44% NaCl, 44% KCl, 10% SrClz, 2% Na(BO)SO4 was applied to. the surfaces which were to be sub jected to the welding flame. An aluminum weld rod was used that had been dipped into the flux shortly before the start of the joining operation; The weldin flame was then'applied to the rod, flux and sheet edges, and the joining operation was carried on in the usual manner. Under the influence of the boryl compound, the molten flux rapidly removed the oxide fllm present on the aluminum surfaces in and adjacent to the joint, thus enabling the filler metal to spread evenly on becoming molten to form a smooth, strong joint, uniformly binding the members. A similar welding operation was conducted in which a flux of this same composition but without any boryl compound was employed. No joining whatsoever took place in this case.

While I have described the type of flux in which the boryl sulfate compound is employed as being an alkali metal chloride base flux, it is to be understood in the appended claims that this includes not only those compositions containing only the chlorides of the alkali metals,- but also admixtures of these chlorides and other salts known in the aluminum welding flux art, with the exception of fluorine-containing substances. '1 have also discovered that such novel additions as 2 to 15 per cent strontium chloride, which is described and claimed in my copending application Serial No. 420,345, may he made to fluxes containing the alkali metal chlorides and boryl sulfate. Any of these addition substances may be employed in the as they do not boryl sulfate.

interfere with the action of the It is also to be understood that referenceto alkali boryl sulfate or the boryl sulfate of any alkali metal in the appended claims contemplates both the addition of the boryl compound to a flux during its preparation and the presence in the flux of boric acid and a sulfate in such stoichiometric proportions as are required to form an alkaliboryl sulfate.

I claim:

1. A fluorine-free alkali metal chloride alkali chloride base fluxes so long flux being characterized by and boric acid, said flux being characterized by the ability to remove the oxide from aluminum surfaces thoroughly and rapidly during the welding operation.

2. A fluorine-free alkali metal chloride base flux for welding aluminum containing boric acid and. alkali sulfate in substantially stoichlometric proportions necessary fto form 0.5 to per cent of alkali boryl sulfate, said flux being characterized by the ability to remove the oxide from aluminum surfaces thoroughly and rapidly during the welding operation.

3. A fluorine-free alkali metal chloride base flux for welding aluminum containing about 0.49 to 4.9 per cent normal sodium sulfate, and about 0.42 to 4.2 per cent boric acid, said boric acid and said normal sodium sulfate being present in substantially stoichiometric proportions necessary to form 0.5.to 5 per cent sodium boryl sulfate, said the ability to remove the oxide from aluminum surfaces thoroughly and rapidly during the weldin'g operation.

4. A fluorine-free alkali metal chloride base stantially free from any unreacted alkali sulfate flux for welding aluminum containing about 0.41

said chlorides exceeding per cent of the weight 3 to'4.1 per cent acid sodium sulfate, and about 0.21 to 2.1 per cent boric acid, said boric acid and said acid sodium sulfate being present in substantially stoichiometric proportions necessary to form 0.5 to 5 per cent sodium boryl sulfate, said flux being characterized by the ability to remove the oxide from aluminum and rapidly during the welding operation.

5. A fluorine-free alkali metal chloride base flux consisting of at least two chlorides of the group composed of 5 to per cent sodium chloride, 5 to 60 per cent potassium chloride, and 5 to per cent lithium chloride, the total amount of of the entire flux, 2 to 15 per cent strontium chloride and 0.5 to 5 6. A fluorine-free alkali metal chloride base flux consisting of at least two chlorides of the group composedof 5 to 60 per cent sodium chloride, 5 to 60 per cent potassium chloride, and 5 to per cent lithium chloride, the total amount of said chlorides exceeding 50 per cent of the weight of the entire flux, 2 to 15 per cent strontium chloride and boric acid and alkali sulfate in substantially the stoichiometric proportions necessary to form 0.5 to 5 per cent of alkali boryl sulfate.

- MIKE A. MILLER.

surfaces thoroughly per cent of an alkali boryl sulfate. 

